Tag: Company

Everplaces is a web based bookmarking service, created to make it convenient for everyday users to save and share unique places they like, to be rediscovered on a later entry. Everplaces is still very young, and is still in Beta, which is very common for technology businesses.

So what is Everplaces and what can it be used for?

Well, Everplaces is as simple as it sound just very good a bookmarking your places. So when you go out for dinner somewhere new, and you have an enjoyable time, you will be able to save the location, an image and a short description, for you to find it later. This can be applied to all sorts of categories that you might find interesting and it is all operated via your Iphone, or you can go online on your labtop and access the service online. Furthermore, Everplaces allows you to share those places with friend and followers on Facebook and Twitter. It is as simple as that, So Far!

So why is Everplaces different?

I’m not so sure that Everplaces really is that unique, as a lot of different services out there allow you to save or bookmark stuff. However, Everplaces approach might be just be what separates them from the crowd. What Everplaces have done is to aim at the later adopters of the geo location service and make the product very simple for everyday people to use.

Everplaces have in a short time become very good at bookmarking, and is now moving on to bigger adventures. Everplaces is extending the service to now include the opportunity for exploring the places of ones friends. This is a necessary strategic move for Everplaces to become a real service and not just a cool feature, mainly centred on an App.

Near future for Everplaces!

No one should ever try to predict the future. However, looking at the challenges Everplaces is facing, a very interesting future is ahead of them. I’m not to say whether or not the service will be a success or a failure, but for me it is very clear that for the service to evolve, the development of its “Explore” feature is very important. Everplaces must look into how to utilize all these bookmarks and make them beneficial for the user, in relation to exploring new areas.

Without knowing, I could hope that Everplaces over time will make it possible to pick up the bookmarks of friends, and via GPS location be able to tell me what the people I trust liked in just that place. Still without knowing, I could imagine that this is what Tine Thygesen and the rest of the team at Everplaces is working on.

I’m on Everplaces…

I have been playing around with Everplaces online service and if you want to take a look yourself, visit my Everplaces profile here.

You can sign up and start adding your favourite places, so you won’t ever forget them.

I just stumbled upon this video on TED. The truth is that I stumbled upon it a long time ago, but found it again yesterday evening. The video is a 3 minute lecture about how to create a movement, held by Derek Sivers who is most famous for founding the company CD baby in 1998. The video does not need a long introduction as it more or less speaks for itself.

What amazes me with this video is Derek Sivers ability to send such a clear message in just 3 minutes time. The message is so easily acceptable and understandable for the audience, which actually makes the speech persuasive.

I believe that Derek Sivers is making a good observation. “A leader is nothing without his first follower.” This is where the gift of persuasion comes in handy, as a Leader is always in the situation of persuading others. I especially like the final conclusion that Derek Sivers comes to. “Be supportive of the first mover and be the first follower.” According to Derek Sivers the first follower deserves the same credit as the leader, because the first follower is what actually makes the leader. I believe that he is on to something.

We can learn a lot form this little 3 minute lecture and it is inspiring that we only need 3 minutes to understand a deep meaningful message. If you feel inspired there are thousands of other great videos on www.ted.com. If you stumble upon some great inspiring lectures that have a great message, feel welcome to share with me in a comment on the right. As the slogan of ted states: “Ideas Worth Spreading”. Don’t forget to spread great ideas.

Wednesday 9. of march, Lotte Littau the CEO of the successful Danish company: Creativ Company visited me in the Though-Leader Series. Creativ Company is a 125 employee’s large company producing and selling hobby items for use in public institutions, as well as private companies with focus on creativity. Creativ Company has been rewarded the honour of being the second best place to work in Denmark, and on a European scale the 9th best place to work. These rewards are what define Creativ Company as an organization.

Creativ Company was founded out of a failed fusion from a former partnership, and the motive for establishing the company was pure revenge. As Lotte said, there are a lot of great different motives for starting a company, but one of the greatest is revenge. Usually revenge is considered an evil thing, but what revenge did for Creativ Company was to give the necessary drive to keep working hard for achieving the goal.

The first step of the start-up was a trip to the USA, attending trade-fairs to find interesting product and solutions for the foundation of the company. Lotte Littau’s husband is a farmer and one of the barns was cleaned out to make room for the first stock of Creativ Company. It took one month from idea to reality and in year 2000 the company was in business. Since then the Company has grown out of the barn and is today in 6,500 m2 large building located in Holstebro.

One of the first success stories Lotte Littau remembers from being an entrepreneur was a record sale of DKK 6,500 on one single day. DKK 6,500 does might not seem like a lot of money, and Lotte could also admit that 6,500 is not quite enough for running the business today; however the experience had made an impact on her.

Since 2000 the company has grown to a 125 employee’s large body and the values of being a start-up has developed into organizational values. This is a challenge for every growing organization, but Creativ Company has done quite well due to great focus on the work environment. One of the reasons why Creativ Company has been rewarded honourable prices for their work environment is due to Creativ Company’s effort in creating a diverse work environment with employees of many different qualifications. At Creativ Company they have created a workshop, where 15 employees that would usually not be able to carry out a job are being helped to have a meaningful work day, while they create value for the company. Because as Lotte Littau believes; it is every company’s duty to take responsibility in the local community.

Lotto Littau presented and interesting aspect on the perception of rules: “If a rule is stupid, break it”. This statement seems to be quite representative for the way Creativ Company is doing business. The company is focused on doing things as smooth as possible and the organizational structure is very flat. The way Lotte is managing the company is with care but with demands. She expects each of her employees to take responsibility in the common wellbeing of the company. And only if the company is doing well Lotte has the opportunity to pay back the employees with social benefits. “It is short term thinking not investing socially in the employees,” that might be the greatest definition of the organizational believe that is held by Creativ Company. Not just is Lotte and Creativ Company challenging the statuesque, they do also do what others say cannot be done, and is criticised for being an unhealthy way of doing business. However Creativ Company has been steady growing since it foundation back in 2000 and is not ready to change, but ready to do better.

The students have given a lot of positive feedback on the presentation carried out by Lotte Littau, and even though Lotte explained that she is not the usual public speaker of the company, she did a very inspiring job. As Creativ Company is growing they will experience challenges, and one of them is how to remain and spread the organizational values of the company to new departments at new locations.